Ha Long Bay
Hands down, one of our favorite parts of Vietnam. Not only is it one of the few areas you can escape from all the traffic and honking, but it is one the most beautiful places to see. It consists if thousands of floating mountains with calm teal water surrounding them. If you are in Vietnam you NEED to do this.
Vietnam is one of the cheapest places to travel to, but the Ha Long Bay cruises are probably the most expensive "tourist" thing to do. Good news though, IT'S WORTH IT.
We did the 3 star 2 days, 1 night cruise and that was more then enough. We spent $85 each, which was with food included. I will say, if you have the extra money to spend, the 4 and 5 star cruises seemed like fun and a lot nicer quality of boats. As our boat crew all went to bed early, across the bay, we could hear the 4 and 5 star boats doing karaoke and obviously enjoying some drinks! No offense to our 3 star boat tour, we were on budget and we got exactly what we paid for, if not more! The other boats just seemed more like a family fun party.
How to book a tour
When booking a tour, like all my other blogs say, buy it once you get there. It is so much cheaper and you get to look at all options! Not to mention, it's a great excuse to get out and talk to locals. Do not buy one online!!!! No matter how many days you are planning to be in Vietnam, find a travel company booth and book it the day you get there! We booked ours from Hanoi and made the mistake of waiting to the last minute (literally the day before we wanted to go, lol). There was only one 5 star cruises available for the entire week but it was for 3 days later and we already had a flight to go to Saigon. We wanted to splurge on this tour but luckily there were only 3 star cruises available so that helped us stay in budget- we have to look at the positive. Moral of the story, the day you get into Hanoi or another city in Vietnam, book it right away to make sure you are getting the best tour.
Don't be afraid to shop around different tour companies though. They all have connections with different cruise companies. I say go to three different booths, haggle the price with all of them and then go with the best option!
What was included
All food was included and our 15 person tour group all got to help make the appetizers of spring rolls while they prepared our other dishes. There was a full bar so if you wanted too, you could purchase drinks.
Night fishing was available. They provide bait, rods and flood lights. This is one of the main reasons why we booked this cruise. You will hear me say it a million times, Ian loves fishing and could never get enough of it. We had a couple drinks and enjoyed the sunset as we fished!
Kayak tour around Ha Long Bay. All supplies included.
This was so much freakin' fun. We least excited about this portion, but this ended up being our favorite part. The entire journey was about 4 hours and we were able to watch the sunset on the water. Our arms may have been sore because we were one of the few that took advantage of all 4 hours.
Hike Ti Top Island. The nice thing about our boat crew was that they weren't there to mess around. This island is a huge tourist trap and the boat crew knows that. They made sure we were the first boat on the island. It has beautiful sandy beaches, fun street vendors and a breath taking view at the top of this island. The climb consists of a small pathway made up of 400 steps. Not having to fight your way up was a huge plus and our crew got a huge tip because of that! I sound like a broken record but seriously, the view is amazing!!
Sung Sot (surprise) Cave Tour. This was what we were most excited about. It is now one of the 7 natural wonders of the world! So definitely something you will want to see. They have lighting inside to make it look magestic.
Then you sit on your boat cruises patio as they take you back to land. Luckily, it was raining and it scared our tour group away so we had the whole upper deck to ourselves!! So Fun!
